SPRINGFIELD — Today, Congresswoman Nikki Budzinski (IL-13) released the following statement on the Trump Administration’s order to federal agencies to freeze grant and loan payments beginning at 5 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2025.press
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"This announcement is a blatant dismissal of Congress' constitutional authority over the power of the purse. Federal grant funding isn’t wasteful spending—it’s essential assistance that millions of Americans depend on,” said Congresswoman Budzinski. “I’ve heard from countless people in our district—farmers who rely on USDA loans, families using Medicaid, and local leaders waiting for updates on infrastructure projects. Workforce development programs, which provide critical job training and skills to our communities, are also at risk. The people of Central and Southern Illinois need answers and I intend to get them.”
Prior to this most recent announcement, Congresswoman Budzinski joined more than 150 Democrats in a letter to Trump's Office of Management and Budget Acting Director Matthew Vaeth and National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett on his Executive Order to freeze funding for projects approved through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and Inflation Reduction Act. The letter urges the Trump Administration to disclose a full list of these frozen initiatives.
The full text of the letter can be found below:
Dear Directors Vaeth and Hassett,
We write to request an itemized list of programs, projects, and activities that have been put on hold because of President Trump’s January 20, 2025, executive order pausing the disbursement of funds included in the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (IRA) and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA).
Section 7 of the order states that this pause goes into effect “immediately” for these two laws, “including but not limited to funds for electric vehicle charging stations made available through the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Formula Program and the Charging and Fueling Infrastructure Discretionary Grant Program...” This vague language has sweeping implications, potentially pausing everything from active highway and bridge construction projects to broadband and water infrastructure expansions that received IIJA funding.
A day after President Trump issued the executive order, you followed up with a memorandum that did little to clarify exactly which projects and programs the executive order paused. In the memorandum, you wrote, “this pause only applies to funds supporting programs, projects, or activities that may be implicated by the policy established in Section 2 of the order.” Section 2 of the order, however, provides only a series of broad, subjective policy objectives, rather than detailed guidelines specifying which projects ought to be frozen. Additionally, your memorandum states that “agency heads may disburse funds as they deem necessary after consulting with the Office of Management and Budget.”
Given the “immediate” nature of this pause and OMB’s role in overseeing further disbursements, OMB must have a list of which programs are currently receiving disbursements and which are frozen. We ask that you be transparent with the American people and make this information available immediately.
This executive order is a source of great anxiety for communities and businesses across the country that use this funding to build new roads, fix bridges, replace lead pipes, expand broadband access, strengthen infrastructure against natural disasters, and much more. Work is already underway on tens of thousands of projects in both the public and private sector, but their completion depends on these funds, which were already approved by Congress and enacted into law.
As a businessman, President Trump ought to know that delaying an ongoing construction project comes at an immense dollar price. As a president, he ought to know that delaying these projects needlessly makes our government less efficient.
We urge you to clarify what specific funds this Administration is withholding unconstitutionally – funds that our laws require be invested in American communities. The American people deserve an answer, and if President Trump’s repeated claims that he cares about government transparency were honest, you will provide them with one.
